CHAPTER 206: AFTER MODIFICATION: CHAPTER 206 GENERATION GAP OF TANKS

If tanks at this time have generational differences, then the "Shire A1" tank and the A7V tank actually exist across generations.

The "Shire A1" tank turret can rotate, while the A7V tank cannot.

This seems like a minor difference, after all, many times the effectiveness of a tank is judged on whether its cannon can penetrate the opponent’s armor, but actual combat proves otherwise.

Because the A7V tank does not have a rotating turret, its cannon’s firing angle is significantly restricted. When the target is about to move to the side, it can no longer fire, forcing the driver to maneuver the vehicle.

This situation could lead to a particularly embarrassing point: the driver maneuvers and stops, but the gunner finds the target already out of the firing angle again, forcing the driver to maneuver again... such repetition might leave the gunner never able to aim or fire.

The "Shire A1" tank is different, its turret rotates omnidirectionally without dead angles, allowing immediate aiming and firing upon stabilizing. The driver does not need to know if they hit the target, hearing the cannon sound is enough to step on the gas and move forward, looking for the next flat ground to repeat the action.

This perfectly achieves the maneuver warfare of "stop and fire, fire and move".

The driver and gunner do not need much coordination, both do their part and still can fight, smoothly without interruption.

The hit rate of the two tanks is also not comparable:

The "Shire A1" aims at fixed targets.

The A7V is turning in place, slow and cumbersome, its large body like a giant, its side armor standing like a wall in front of the gunner, making it easy to hit without much aiming.

The A7V, however, aims at moving targets.

Although the "Shire A1" has brief stops, the time is very short. Plus, the target is small, barely giving the A7V time to aim before the "Shire A1" fires another shell and moves again.

This leaves the A7V scrambling, never even getting a chance to fire, only to be destroyed one after another by the "Shire A1" tank.

This scene leaves the French soldiers fighting in the battle dumbfounded. They initially worried the "Shire A1" tank would be taken down by a few shots from the A7V tank, but unexpectedly, it maneuvered as agilely as a monkey, easily mocking those "big guys".

Even Colonel Brownie did not anticipate this situation. While commanding the troops to continue suppressing the enemy infantry, he observed this historic first tank battle and sighed inwardly, "The Germans are done for!"

Most desperate was German Army commander Colonel Mateo, who initially thought his A7V tank could crush the enemy tanks with absolute superiority, but unexpectedly got reverse-crushed by the enemy.

After repeatedly maneuvering but failing to hit the target, Colonel Mateo decided to take a risky gamble and loudly ordered, "All machine guns, load K rounds!"

K rounds were prepared to counter the "Mark I" tanks, each of the six machine guns equipped with a belt of 250 K rounds.

Colonel Mateo waited for a while, machine gunners responded one by one, "Ready," then Mateo gave the order to the driver, "Stop, hold steady!"

Mateo thought: the A7V has firepower on all sides, with two machine guns on each of the other three sides apart from the front cannon. If they can penetrate the enemy’s side armor, the A7V would still have a fighting chance.

"Da-da-da, da-da!"

"Da-da-da..."

The gunfire was particularly crisp when K rounds were fired, the result of steel core rounds fiercely rubbing against the rifling.

Colonel Mateo watched through the observation window, closely eyeing the targeted tank. However, reality left him hopeless, the turret of the target tank continued rotating without any effect.

This was Shire’s calculated result, the K rounds could penetrate 13mm steel plates within a 200-meter range, so the side armor of the "Shire A1" tank was set at 13mm.

Adding one millimeter could affect the tank’s speed and maneuverability, but reducing one millimeter could not withstand the K rounds, requiring careful weighing.

"Colonel, what should we do now?" The German tanker loudly asked Colonel Mateo.

Colonel Mateo could not answer this question because he did not know the answer either.

The only certainty was that the A7V had lost, lost utterly and completely without any suspense!

Looking outside the observation window at the small tank whose turret was slowly turning towards him, Colonel Mateo could only look back at his subordinates and say, "Pray!"

Before he finished speaking, a crisp "clang" was heard, a shell penetrated the armor and hit the engine in the middle of the tank.

Broken armor and shell fragments flew frantically within the tank cabin, along with rivets jolted out by the impact, bouncing like bullets inside the cabin, causing instantaneous screams.

Colonel Mateo felt a pain in his abdomen, looking down to see his injury, but couldn’t see anything as the thick smoke from the engine covered everything, even making it hard for Colonel Mateo to keep his eyes open.

In a daze, Colonel Mateo felt someone open the tank hatch.

With his last bit of strength, Colonel Mateo crawled towards the hatch by memory, trying hard to stick his head out. A gust of cold wind blew, bringing some relief as he finally inhaled some fresh air.

Colonel Mateo’s consciousness became increasingly fuzzy until he saw the flames...

The battle lasted only a few minutes, with the French Army achieving overall victory. Of ten A7Vs, only one retreated under cover of German infantry, while the others either became paralyzed on the battlefield or were burned into fireballs.

The French Army lost one "Shire A1" whose tracks were broken by shrapnel.

It could also be counted as a loss as the French Army had no time to repair tanks, in this urgent combat they couldn’t let the whole unit stop for one tank.

To maintain confidentiality, Brownie ordered explosives be planted inside and then ignited the fuel tank.

The French Army did not pursue the retreating Germans because the Samok straight road was not their target. Although the road could shorten travel time, it was constructed by the Germans as a trap.

Shire certainly wouldn’t foolishly send his troops into a trap.

To rescue the trapped Second Specialized Artillery Division, they just needed to destroy the German howitzer regiment.

The French reconnaissance plane had already provided the exact position of the howitzer regiment, about five miles northeast of the small town of Samok, only protected by two infantry companies.

The Germans had poured nearly all their forces into surrounding the French Army, leaving their rear defenseless and unprotected.

With tanks and sidebar wheels, the French Army facing an almost melee-ineffective artillery regiment, would be another massacre.

...

Within the Samok straight road, Major General Tijani hesitantly gathered the troops at the northern end of the road.

Artillery fire still sporadically exploded ahead, seemingly as warnings from the Germans.

No one dared pass easily, staying hidden and waiting quietly.

This might be their last hope; if the shelling did not stop as Shire described, they would have no choice but to surrender.

Suddenly, the artillery fire abruptly stopped.

Major General Tijani was stunned.

Those around immediately cheered excitedly, "We are saved, Shire did it!"